Aria of the Sea

On the island of Normost, in the kingdom of Windward, 13-year-old Cerinthe Gale is a folk healer who dreams of being a dancer. When her mother falls ill, Cerinthe fights to save her — but fails. She blames herself for her mother’s death, gives up healing, and decides to pursue dance. Cerinthe travels across Windward to audition at the School of the Royal Dancers, which accepts her even though she is a commoner. It should be the beginning of a brilliant future, but Cerinthe feels an emptiness she can’t identify. A disagreement with a young man, a conflict with a cruel teacher, a rivalry with an aristocratic classmate, Elliana, and a meeting with a mederi — a healer with magical powers — add to her anguish. When the rivalry between the two girls causes a terrible accident, Elliana’s life hangs in the balance. Cerinthe faces the same awful choice she had faced with her mother: Should she try to heal Elliana herself or hope that the mederi arrives in time? Only the song of the Sea Maid holds the answer.

Aria of the Sea is an ALA Best Book for Young Adults, a Book Sense 76 Recommended Children’s Book, and a New York Public Library Best Book for the Teen Age. On the island of Normost, in the kingdom of Windward, 13-year-old Cerinthe Gale is a folk healer who dreams of being a dancer. When her mother falls ill, Cerinthe fights to save her — but fails. She blames herself for her mother’s death, gives up healing, and decides to pursue dance. Cerinthe travels across Windward to audition at the School of the Royal Dancers, which accepts her even though she is a commoner. It should be the beginning of a brilliant future, but Cerinthe feels an emptiness she can’t identify. A disagreement with a young man, a conflict with a cruel teacher, a rivalry with an aristocratic classmate, Elliana, and a meeting with a mederi — a healer with magical powers — add to her anguish. When the rivalry between the two girls causes a terrible accident, Elliana’s life hangs in the balance. Cerinthe faces the same awful choice she had faced with her mother: Should she try to heal Elliana herself or hope that the mederi arrives in time? Only the song of the Sea Maid holds the answer.

Aria of the Sea is an ALA Best Book for Young Adults, a Book Sense 76 Recommended Children’s Book, and a New York Public Library Best Book for the Teen Age.

LibraryThing Review

User Review - AltheaAnn - LibraryThing

Picked this up because it won the Mythopoeic award. It was OK, but didn't really live up to my expectations - the storyline was just too familiar, and the worldbuilding was only so-so. It's one of ...Read full review

ARIA OF THE SEA

User Review - Kirkus

A gifted teenager agonizes over career choices while learning to separate her desires from those of others in this leisurely ballet-school fantasy from the author of Firegold (1999). Forget about a ...Read full review